RPT-Linchpin of Brazil soccer business central to FIFA corruption sweep

SAO PAULO May 28 (Reuters) - To help bring corruption
charges against some of the most powerful men in world soccer,
prosecutors in the United States convinced a Brazilian sports
mogul to confess to a life at the nexus of money, soccer and
graft.

José Hawilla, 71, the founder of sports marketing company
Traffic, has spent decades connecting soccer officials with
surging revenues from broadcast and advertising rights, while
dodging investigations from Brazilian lawmakers and prosecutors.

Through connections at the top of the Brazilian game,
Hawilla has negotiated TV deals for South America's biggest
tournaments since 1991, along with nearly half a billion dollars
of sponsorships including Nike Inc and the Coca-Cola Co
.

His hefty commissions were divvied up as kickbacks for
soccer officials in Brazil and throughout the Americas, Hawilla
told U.S. investigators as part of plea deal in which he also
agreed to forfeit over $151 million.

In an indictment released by the Department of Justice on
Wednesday, Hawilla was one of four convicted defendants who
helped U.S. investigators build their case against 14 top global
soccer officials and sports marketing executives accused of
orchestrating more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks.

Hawilla's lawyer told newspaper Folha de S. Paulo that he
had pled guilty, remained free in the United States, and was
cooperating with investigators there. It was unclear exactly
what information he had passed to U.S. officials.

Hawilla's guilty plea and the U.S. graft charges against
José Maria Marin, former head of Brazilian Football
Confederation (CBF), stirred hopes in Brazil that the biggest
names in the sport were finally within the law's reach. Anger
has been building for years in Brazil over corruption scandals
that are battering its economy and souring its politics.
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